


The Silence Game

by Otava



Series: Shassie Prompts [2]
Category: Psych
Genre: A Kiss on the Cheek, Apple Product, Charades, Elderly People, Emotions, Fraud, Hand Jestures, M/M, Silence, Spoons, Very Minor case fic, hand holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 12:09:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11623233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Otava/pseuds/Otava
Summary: Prompt: "What about a charades? Either in a game or because they can't actually talk aloud for some reason, it's up to you."





	The Silence Game

**Author's Note:**

> Prompted by a shy anon on tumblr. Want a crappy Shassie one shot? PROMPT ME.

“Shawn. Please. Would you please do me the favor of shutting your face for once!” Lassiter said rubbing at his temples. The incessant jabbering of the other man was beginning to give him a migraine.

“Come on. You need me to talk to you. How else would you be able to solve this case?”

“By myself,” Lassiter said harshly. “I don’t know why you have it in your head that I need your help for Every. Single. Case. that we get in here. I seemed to manage fine before you came along.”

“Sure you have managed _fine_ before me, but is ‘fine’ really a good enough standard for the man who claims to be Head Detective Carlton Lassiter of the Santa Barbara Police Department? I took you for better than that, Lassie.”

“That’s no claim. I’m good at my job.”

“That may be true...in the past... but I’m solving all your cases for you now. I might as well have the job title.”

“Oh, Save it. You act like it's all so easy but all you talk people to death until they give up the information to you. I’ve suffered torture worse than what you put me through on a daily basis. Before I had you to deal with, my mind was more clear and I could focus better. That’s why you’ve solved the last few classes before me. I also play by the rules, unlike you.”

“As Head Detective you should be able to deal with one simple silly psychic such as myself. I’m doing you a favor, really, by preparing you for the real world.”

“Please stop. It’s not appreciated.”

“Noted,” Shawn said. “So...would you like me to be quiet then?” The conversation had reached full circle.

“Yes!” Lassiter said, raising his voice so loud that the other members of the office turned their heads to see what the commotion was. One of the Lieutenants in the room ‘shushed’ him. Lassiter groaned and looked over to Shawn who shrugged it off.

“Go away, Spencer. I’m working.”

Shawn stroked his imaginary beard as if he had an idea and then shook his head ‘no.’

Lassiter’s eyebrows furrowed. “I have work to do. I don’t need you distracting me. I’ve been working on this case far too long and don’t need any more distractions! Go!”

Shawn shook his head one more time.

“Spencer-”

This time Shawn snapped his fingers and pointed to a pen in a cup holder on the other side of Lassiter’s desk. What ever Shawn was up to, it was suspicious. Lassiter decided to hand him the pen anyway. He was given the ‘thumbs up’ sign from Shawn as it was taken from his hand.

 _“I bet you $100 I can solve this case without saying a word,”_ he wrote.

“Like you have that kind of money-”

Shawn nodded and pointed to himself with both thumbs _‘Yes I do._ ”

“One Hundred dollars?” Lassiter asked. 

Shawn nodded.

Lassiter scoffed out loud. “And no talking to me either, right?”

Shawn nodded profusely.

“For the whole case-?”

Shawn nodded again.

“Who ever solves it first gets the money.”

Shawn smiled widely and nodded once more.

“Alright. It’s a deal then. At least it will be quiet for some time. But I bet you probably won’t last an hour,” Lassiter said.

He did last an hour, though. More than a hour. Shawn sat at the chief's current briefing about the case in complete silence, nodding attentively as new details were given. Sometimes he clapped when he heard especially rewarding information. Everyone there was looking at him strangely.

“Any questions?” Chief Vic asked as she finished her little talk. “Shawn? Do you have anything to say. You’ve been surprisingly quiet this whole time.”

Shawn pointed to himself in disbelief. _‘Me?’_ , he gestured.

“Does anyone know what’s wrong with him?” She asked.

“I do, Chief. Spencer here made a bet with me that he could solve the case without saying a single word.”

“This case isn’t some sort of game to fight about like children about,” the Chief said. “These are people’s lives we are dealing with.”

“An elderly woman had her spoon collection stolen.”

The Chief sighed. “I can’t have you two at each other's throats all the time like this. You have to work alongside one another, not against This job is not a competition. Look, I know Guster’s out of town and O’Hara is at a conference and must be bored but this isn't the place for childish games. You both have your methods. Shawn was born with a gift-”

“I want to put him in his place,” Lassiter said plainly.

Shawn pointed to himself and then made muscles. _‘Me too. I’ll beat him and make him eat his words.’_

“After this I promise I won’t complain about him anymore,” Lassiter said. “I just need to know.”  
Chief Vic sighed. “I’ll allow it, but don’t let it get in the way of your police work. And if anyone asks, I don’t know anything about this.”

“Thank you, Chief. You won’t regret it.”

With O’Hara and Gus both gone, Shawn and Lassiter showed up at the victim’s convalescent home together. The simple case of stolen spoons had lasted four days too long in Lassiter’s opinion and they were no closer to solving it from the day it was assigned to them. Work was slow to say the least the past few weeks. At least there were no murders.

This was the third time they had been to the place in those four days. The other two times they had visited, many of the elderly ‘suspects’ had been napping or engaged in other activities and the people running the home prohibited any disturbances to their residences schedule. It was unlikely that any of them had committed the crime anyway so it was no problem. Honestly, Lassiter had no clue as to what happened to the spoons and he really didn’t care all that much.

They collected their visitors badge and then went to their first room. “Good afternoon, Ma’am,” Lassiter started with one of the residents.

“Eh? What do you want? Speak up, sonny,” the woman resident said. “My hearin’ ain’t what it used to be.” 

“I said good afternoon!” Lassiter raised his voice a little louder.

“Eh?”

“I said-”

Shawn stopped him from speaking up even louder by placing his hand across his chest and holding his hand out like a crossing guard. _‘I got this,’_ he seemed to say

Somehow, Shawn managed to communicate with the woman and interview her with hand and body gestures only. 

“You boys should join us in the activity room in a half hour,” the woman laughed when her little interview was over. “We’re playing charades. Your partner seems to be quite good at it. Brought a smile to my face too.”  
“He’s not my partner,” Lassiter quickly corrected.

“Eh? What did ya say?”

“Never mind, Mrs. Come on, Spencer. Let’s go.”

Shawn took a bow and waved bye to the elderly woman and followed behind Lassie.

It was incredible really. Shawn was indeed a skillful man. Even without talking, people seemed to like Shawn more than they did him, Lassiter thought. Perhaps his friendly and attractive demeanor was what got people to open up to him more… Lassiter’s train of thought was cut short by Shawn tugging at his hand. “What is it?” he asked. Shawn pulled harder and began running and pulling him along. Lassiter had no choice but to hold on and follow. Shawn suddenly stopped against a wall and peeked over the corner. Lassiter followed suit and spotted a shifty looking man sneaking outside.

Tiptoeing, the men followed him. Lassiter held his finger to his mouth, signaling Shawn to be quiet. Shawn just rolled his eyes and darted ahead of him. 

He swung the door open loudly to expose the man of whatever he was doing.

“What the hell, man? Can’t I have a smoke in peace?!” he shrieked.

“Sorry. Head Detective Carlton Lassiter of the SBPD. We’re investigating the case of Mrs. Edelman's missing antique spoon collection.”

“Mmhmmm I remember you two. I believe we’ve already spoken.”

“Yes,” Lassiter confirmed remembering the conversation he had from two days ago. The man was head of security at the home and had showed them some tapes of the outside. Nobody suspicious had entered or exited the building at the time of the crime.

“Why were you following me for? I’m just taking a smoke break. Don’t tell anyone though, cause it's not allowed here. Bad for the lungs of the guests and stuff. Old people, you know?”

“I see-” Lassiter said, flustered. “Go ahead then. Sorry about bothering you. Let us know if you see any suspicious behavior."

“Besides you two, you mean,” the man smiled.

“Yes,” Lassiter said before turning on his heals. “Bye.”

Once Shawn and Lassiter were out of earshot Lassiter began to scold Shawn. “I can’t believe you made me make a fool out of myself like that! Leading me on a wild goose chase? Really, Spencer?

Shawn smiled. He wanted to laugh but wasn’t sure if Lassiter would count that as talking or not so he just smiled with his teeth and let out a small breath of air. 

They investigated a few more of the inhabitants with no success.

Shawn tugged on Lassiter's sleeve as they were walking the hall.

“What is it now?”

Shawn pointed at the wall. It was the activity center where the game of charades was currently going on at the moment.

“Oh no,” Lassiter began.“ No. No. No. We are not playing charades with a bunch of tired retirees. I've already had enough of that with you!”

Shawn signaled something to him along the lines. _’It will help the investigation. I’ve almost solved it. Get ready to suck it and owe me that money.’_

Lassiter told him to never try to use the words ‘suck it’ again with had gestures and Shawn made a heart with his hands and winked.

They entered the room to find the game in progress with about 25 elderly divided into two teams.

“Oh it's you!” The woman from earlier said. “Come on and join in!”

Shawn bounded right into the group while Lassiter stayed off to the side against the wall. The victim of the crime, Mrs. Edelman was there too, standing right next to Shawn.

“Is your partner going to join?”

Shawn shrugged and looked over at Lassiter who looked away in embarrassment.

“Why don't you bring him along?”

Shawn smiled and grabbed Lassiter’s hand once more. He could feel his heart speeding up at the contact. Twice in one day, this had happened and he didn’t know what to make of it.

Lassiter joined the group of people and stood next to Shawn who was now leaning against him, annoyingly. He looked up at him and they made eye contact at one another before Lassiter looked away quickly. 

Their team was up for the game. He didn’t know how Shawn could even play if he couldn’t speak the answer out loud. Half of the game of charades was talking, after all.

One of their team members pulled a slip of paper from a hat and began gesturing.

“Movie.” The crowd spoke in unison. “Four words.” 

The man who was supposed to be acting the thing out was terrible at doing so. Lassiter himself had deduced that the movie was some sort of western but besides that, he had no idea. He turned his head to see Shawn literally jumping with knowledge. ‘ _I know this one_.'

Shawn bolted from the group and retrieved a pencil and paper and then bent his knee to quickly write down the answer. Quickly he began tapping on Lassiter and shoved the paper in his hand. Lassiter read it out loud. _‘Back to the future.’_

“You got it,” the performer said.

Everyone clapped for him and Lassiter felt the tips of his ears reddening. He wasn’t used to being the center of attention for so many smiling faces.

The next team had the word, _‘Balloons,’_ to figure out, their team had _‘superhero,’_ the other team had _‘birthday cake,’_ and then it was their turn again and Lassiter’s turn to act out the word. Up he stepped to the center of the group, nervously, and pulled out the slip of paper from the hat: _’Wedding’_ it read.

There was no way he knew what to do so he just stood there. “Come on,” a few people muttered. “You can do it.”

“This word is too hard. I don't think I can-"

Shawn let out an encouraging whistle from the crowd.

“Shut up. I just need some time, alright?” 

He closed his eyes and focused. _Wedding. Marriage. Divorce. Loneliness. Sadness. Heartache. Despair. Abandonment. Depression. Staleness. Mediocrity. Repetitiveness. Shawn. Questioning. Interest. Longing. Fear? Yes? No?_ Lasster shook his head and took a breath.

With his hands and body, he began to paint a story of love and then a wedding ceremony; including the cake. Nobody seemed to be getting it.

“I don’t know?”

“Romance?” one said.

Lasster perked up at that comment and pointed to the speaker.

“A date? Courting?”

They were getting closer. Lassiter looked over to Shawn, who knew the answer. Shawn walked up to him and began dancing with him to his surprise. At least he would be away from the center quicker now with Shawn's help.

“Ballroom dancing! Etiquette lessons!”

Still not correct.

Shawn stopped them from dancing and immediately looked at Lassiter's face questioningly raising his eyebrows as if asking, _‘Do you want to..?’_

Lassiter’s eyes went wide and his eyes darted down towards Shawn’s lips as he licked at his own. He suddenly remembered something he hadn’t done before as a clue and went to his knee and opened up an imaginary box. A proposal. Shawn clapped his hand to his chest and nodded enthusiastically, wiping a fake tear from his eye and nodded, _Yes._

“Proposal!?” someone from the crowd said.

“No!” Lassiter said as he got up. Honestly, how could people be so dense? Lassiter planted a quick peck to Shawn’s cheek, near the corner of his mouth. He could have sworn he saw the other man smile when he backed away.

“Wedding!” he heard someone shout.

“Yes! A wedding! God, finally!” he shouted in relief. Two more people had their turn while they exchanged some glances with each other. 

The victim of the crime, Mrs. Eidelman, went last and then the game was over. 

“You ready to go?” he asked Shawn who nodded and slipped him a paper: _I figured out who did it._

Shawn stayed silent the whole car ride back to the station. When they finally arrived, he bolted out of the car as fast as he could leaving a confused Lassiter behind him. Lassiter began to look around the station for him with no luck.

About 10 minutes later, Shawn came out of nowhere with a computer in hand. He clapped loudly to get everyone's attention. Then, a female text-to-speech engine began saying the following:

_‘Everyone. I have gathered you all here because I have solved the case of the missing spoons. My psychic powers have been unblocked by my vow of silence with Lassiter and suddenly everything is so clear. Mrs. Edelman's missing spoons can easily be explained. From earlier visions I have seen with my psychic eye that Mrs. Edelman had stolen her own set of spoons for the insurance money she had on them. However, I could not prove this. The police looked everywhere in the building and checked all the security footage. There was no way that they were inside the building, but also no way that they were outside. Earlier in our investigation we conducted today, I felt the spirits tugging at me and we met up with the head of security again. It was then that the spirits revealed that he didn’t smoke, which was strange because that was his excuse for his strange behavior. The place he had been was the basement, a place previously unmarked by the maps provided to us. It had been covered by a large cabinet when we were searching for the lost item. He must have hidden the spoons there and smuggled them out when he had the chance a few days later. Of course, this is all speculation, but I know for certain that he’s guilty. I need you to check his home or his car to be certain. Then you pay up’_

“And how do you know Mrs. Edelman is involved?” Lassiter asked. 

_“She had new jewelry,”_ Shawn typed. He had seen so earlier when they were playing charades.

In the end, Shawn turned out to be completely right and the criminals were dealt with.

___“It all checks out,” Lassiter said with a sigh of reluctance. He reached into his wallet. “Guess you win at being a better detective. Here. You can speak now.”_ _ _

___Shawn cleared his throat. It hadn’t even been 12 hours since they talked but it felt way longer to him. He pocketed the money, coughed and then said. “I think your a great detective, Lassie. Really.”_ _ _

___“Save it, Spencer.”_ _ _

___“Anyway, thanks for the money. Do you want to go out for some dinner with it. And a movie. I know you have nothing to do for the rest of the day now that you're only case was solved. And Gus is gone so...”_ _ _

___“Fine.”_ _ _

___The two men rode together in Lassiter’s car. Shawn was still strangely silent throughout the whole journey. In the end, they settled for a restaurant about 10 minutes away from the station and rather close to Shawn's place. The two of them entered and sat down at the bar, ordering drinks._ __

__Shawn cleared his throat and was finally about to speak._ _

____

____

__What he said, surprised Lassiter and made him gag on his drink “So, Lassie. Why did you kiss me earlier?” Shawn had asked._ _

___Lassiter's face reddened._ _ _


End file.
